


Sweet Scent

by Eastofthemoon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Couch Cuddles, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Humor, Kallura Month 2018, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 13:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16326836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastofthemoon/pseuds/Eastofthemoon
Summary: Keith had always thought Allura smelled nice.  However, recently he's began to notice even more so.





	Sweet Scent

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Kallura Month and today's prompt was fragrance. Hope you all like this.

Keith had always known he had a strong sense of smell. There were several times he recalled as a child he shocked his father by being able to smell what he was cooking before he entered the kitchen. Keith didn’t think much of it until after he started school and realized it wasn’t a common trait.

Keith had learned far too often telling someone how they smelled was often not taken as a compliment. The only other person he had told about his ability was Shiro, and even then he was careful to not talk about it in fear Shiro would find it creepy or annoying. 

It wasn’t until later, after learning he was part Galra and confirmed it with Krolia that it was a Galra ability. It was a relief. He wasn’t a freak. He wasn’t some kind of weirdo. Keith had just inherited a strong nose from his mother. 

Still, despite this revelation, Keith never told the other paladins. There was no need to let them know what he thought of their scents. They had to deal with enough weird stuff as is, there was no need to add this to it.

It was going fine, until he and Allura began to date. Her odor seemed to somehow increase within a matter of days. She had always held a gentle scent to her. Now, whenever Allura sat near him Keith got slammed with images of berries and spring flowers. The first time it was intense and it took a moment for Keith to regain his composure.

Keith wasn’t certain if he should bring it up, but by the third day of dealing with this onslaught on his nostrils he decided to risk asking.

They were currently in his room in the Garrison. She had come over to watch a movie and her hair was currently tickling his cheek as she leaned into his side. He had trouble focussing on the tv screen when all he could think off was how he wanted to bury himself in Allura’s smell. He didn’t understand where the craving came from, but Keith attempted to stay calm.

Keith rubbed his neck, glanced to sleeping Kosmo by his feet for courage and spoke. “Allura, did you use a new shampoo or something?” 

Allura raised her head and frowned as she turned. “Shampoo?”

“Uh..you know, washing your hair,” Keith said as he tugged at his own hair and realized he must have sounded like an idiot.

Allura gave a smile. “I know what it is,” she said, “but no, although I haven’t checked any of the Earth shampoos yet.”

Keith blinked. “You haven’t? Then how have you wash your hair?”

Keeping clean on their trip back to Earth had been a bit of a challenge. There hadn’t been any showers on the lions. The paladins had to make due and wait to find a planet that had a lake or some kind of water they could dive into to wash themselves. Besides that, they had to be careful to not waste water and use damp cloths to wipe themselves clean.

He recalled how joyful everyone had been when they reached the Garrison and were able to have running water, but that was ages ago. Had Allura not need to wash her hair since then?

“We Alteans don’t need to wash our hair as often as you humans do,” Allura explained as she waved a hand. “If we say get mud dumped on our heads, then certainly we do, but we don’t create as many natural oils like you do.”

Keith thought briefly back to when Coran had gotten the case of the slippies, but he assumed that was a different case.

“So, you haven’t done anything different to your hair?” Keith said.

“No, why do you ask?” Allura asked with a frown.

Keith chewed his bottom lip. He never dated before, but even he knew he had to tread lightly here.

“You..uh just smell nice,” Keith muttered with a blush.

Allura blinked, blushed and then smiled as she leaned back into him. “Thank you. I like your scent too.”

_I have a feeling mine isn’t as strong as yours,_ Keith thought as he once again tried to ignore the pleasant attack on his nose.

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The attack never lessened. It never became worse over the next couple of days, but it didn’t get better. It wasn’t a complete distraction, Allura’s smell could be strangely comforting, but he did find it distracting when it was just the two of them sitting alone together. Keith began to fear he was going to live like this for the rest of his life.

Keith had to deduce this might be some weird Galra thing he had never been told about so he went straight to Krolia. When his mother paused in pouring her cup of tea to stare at him wide eyed, Keith had a feeling he got his answer.

“Her scent has increased?” Krolia asked as she set the teapot down. “And it is just her?”

“Yeah,” Keith said as he rubbed his neck. “I mean it’s not a bad smell, but I do notice it?”

Krolia was silent as she clasped her hand over her mouth as she seemed lost in thought. “I...I never thought I would have to explain this to you. It’s so rare for half breed to inherit.”

Keith’s frown deepened as he leaned over the table. “So, it is a Galra thing?”

“Yes,” Krolia said with a sigh as she picked up her cup. “When a Galra becomes settled on a potential mate, our sense of smell enhances for them. It’s nature's way of encouraging...well, to breed.”

Keith felt his entire face turned red. “Are you serious?”

“Very,” Krolia said as she sipped. “Like I said, half breeds mostly don’t inherit it and I just assumed that you wouldn’t.” She stared into her cup. “Although, I’ll admit I had never experienced it for myself until I met your father. It was quite alarming, but I must admit it wasn’t long after that I found myself pregnant with you-”

“Mom, please, I don’t need details,” Keith said as he held up his hand.

Krolia shut her mouth as she patted Keith’s shoulder. “Sorry, but yes it is normal.”

Keith sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “So, what do I do about it?”

Krolia shrugged. “Honestly, there’s not much. If you just ignore it, your body will adjust and the odor should fade after a couple of weeks.”

“A couple of weeks?” Keith crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. It was one thing if it was just him and Allura, but with training and working with the Coalition, Keith would prefer not having to worry about it.

“Isn’t there a faster cure?” Keith asked.

“There is,” Krolia said as she leaned over. “Although, considering I know you and the princess are trying to ease into a relationship I’m not sure if you wish to know.”

“I think I should,” Keith replied as he leaned over the table.

Krolia’s eyes narrowed as she nodded and told him. Keith found himself blushing as he turned away. There was no way he could do that.

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Lance nearly fell out of his chair as he stared at Keith in shock. “Kiss Allura?! That’s it?!”

Keith said as he kept his gaze on the video game on the screen. “Yes, that’s what I just said. My mom said it should be enough to ‘satisfy’ my body craving it and then it should just settle a lot faster.”

Lance blinked at him in shock and then groaned as he rubbed his eyes. “Good grief, the way you were acting I thought it was a bigger deal.”

Keith shot a glare as he felt himself blush as he hit the attack button. “It is a big deal. I can’t just ask Allura to let me kiss her because of some stupid Galra biological problem.”

Keith wasn’t even certain why he told Lance. Although, Shiro had been busy and he felt like he needed advice or at least talk to someone with actual dating experience. He had briefly thought of Hunk, but he was spending the day with his family. Coran had momentarily crossed his mind, but..it would just be too weird.

So, Keith found himself drifting to Lance’s quarters. Keith didn’t think he would discuss it, but if anything else he need to take his mind off of it. Before long Lance had gotten Keith into playing a video game. Then, somewhere around level 3, they had began discussing how him and Allura were doing and Lance managed to pry his problem out of him.

Keith was having regrets now.

Lance rolled his eyes as he sliced the demon in half. “Dude, you’re overthinking it. Just pop on over, plant a kiss on her cheek and wham. Problem solved.”

Keith growled as he had his character jump over Lance to block an attack. “Somehow, I doubt a kiss on the cheek would solve the problem.”

“Maybe not, but frankly, I’m amazed it hadn’t solved itself already. Whoa! Look out! Dragon coming!”

Keith had his character block the fire. “Got it! And what do you mean?”

“Uh, I mean that have been dating for a couple of months now,” Lance retorted as he shot his arrow. “So, it’s not like you haven’t been kissing this whole time.”

Keith went quiet and tried to focus on his character slicing the dragon.

Lance lowered his controller as the stage clear message appeared on the screen. “Keith...you have kissed Allura, right?”

Keith bit his lower lip. “Um...not exactly.”

Lance’s jaw dropped. “What..ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

“What? We’re taking things slow,” Keith replied as he put the controller down. “We’ve never kept it a secret.”

“Yeah, but it’s been two months,” Lance replied as he raised an eyebrow. “A sloth would have made a move by now.” He frowned. “Do you..not want to kiss her?”  
“Of course I do,” Keith shot back and blushed. “But...I’ve never dated anyone before and didn’t want to screw it up. Also, after Allura’s experience with Lotor I didn’t want to rush her into doing anything she wasn’t ready for.”

Lance raised and then lowered a hand. “Yeah, okay, that’s a fair point.” He then leaned back against the wall. “Still, maybe you should talk to her directly?”

Keith shook his head. “No, it’s my problem and it’s not her job to solve it. I’ll just deal with it.”

“I get that, but that’s not what I meant,” Lance replied. “I mean, maybe just ask her if she’s ready to kiss you? I mean, she’ll probably want to at some point.”

Keith frowned as he rubbed his neck. “Maybe...but I don’t want to force her into anything she doesn’t want to do.”

“You won’t,” Lance said as he picked up his controller. “If she doesn’t want to kiss you, she’ll tell you, you’ll respect it and then you just wait it out like you said. Easy.”

“It doesn’t feel easy,” Keith said.

“No one said dating was,” Lance replied as he pointed to Keith’s controller. “Come on, I want to clear the next stage and try to beat Pidge’s high score.”

Keith gave a smirk as he picked up the controller. He wasn’t really into video games, but he felt like he owed Lance for the good advice.

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The next day, he and Allura had decided to go on a nature hike. They both had the day off and Allura had been curious of seeing more of Earth’s natural surroundings. Keith had briefly thought of just directly asking Allura about kissing her, but he decided against it. If Allura didn’t want to kiss yet, Keith didn’t want to risk ruining the mood for the rest of the hike.

Although, when Allura appeared at his door to go, her scent of berries made it a difficult task to not ponder the question again. Yet, Keith tossed the thought aside and focused  
on driving Allura to their destination.

They were going near a small lake Keith remembered his dad use to take him camping when he was kid. He tried to get his brain to focus on the fond memories he had there rather than on the smell from the very pretty girl sitting next to him.

Unfortunately, Keith’s brain decided to ponder if the smell would increase even more so if he did kiss her which caused him to blush.

_Stupid brain,_ Keith thought, as they made the last turn. _Why can’t I just shut it off?_

“Keith, is there something wrong?”

Keith straightened his postured as he stopped the car and turned off the engine. “No, why.”

Allura frowned as she tilted her head. “You’re blushing. Are you not feeling well?”

Keith cleared his throat as he tried to give a smile. “Ah, no, just a bit hot today that’s all.”

“Oh, really? I find it bit chilly. It’s why I put this on,” Allura said as she tugged at her sweater. “Still, maybe you have a fever.”

Before Keith could stop her, she placed a hand on his forehead. “You don’t feel warm,” she muttered.

Keith couldn’t answer. He shut his eyes and found himself breathing deeply in her scent. _She smells so nice. Did she always smell like this? The mice’s noses are stronger than mine usually. If they smell this all the time, no wonder they like her._

“Keith?” Allura asked as she removed her hand.

Keith coughed as he gently removed her and and opened the door. “It’s nothing, really I’m okay. Let’s go on the hike.”

Allura didn’t look convinced, but gave a nod as she climbed out of the car. Keith found the old trail he knew was good for beginners like Allura. He was careful to keep a steady pace, but not walk too far from her.

Not to mention, with him in front he couldn’t smell her as much if she was behind. It was going perfectly, until Allura grabbed Keith by his arm and tugged him to her side.

“Keith, what’s that?” she asked as she pointed.

Keith looked up and saw a chattering squirrel blink at them from a tree branch.

“Oh, that’s a squirrel,” he explained.

“It’s so cute,” Allura cooed as she rested her hand against Keith’s shoulder. “It looks like a mouse, but it has a bushy tail.”

The squirrel tilted it’s head before it choose to jump to another tree.

Keith’s nose was filled to the brim with her scent, but he cleared his throat to distract himself. “Well, mice and squirrels are both rodents so they’re kind of related.”

Allura giggled. “I’ll have to take a photo,” she said as she still held on to Keith’s arm and reached into her pocket for a camera. “The mice will be quite curious to see this.”  
Keith thought he should tell Allura about the time when his dad had to get rid of a squirrel that got trapped in their house as a kid, but all he wanted to do was to breath in that smell.

“Keith, you’ve gone awfully quiet,” Allura said after she took the photo.

Keith rubbed his neck and gently freed himself from Allura, as much as he craved not to. “It’s nothing, let’s go.”

He barely took a step as he felt Allura snag the back of his shirt. “Keith, what’s wrong?”

Keith’s body froze as he turned around. “Nothing.”

“You’re lying,” she said as she let go and crossed her arms. “You’ve been..a bit off during our last few dates.” She hugged herself. “Is it...something I’ve done?”

Alarm bells went off in Keith’s head. “No, no, you didn’t anything wrong! You just smell nice!”

Allura blinked. “What?”

Keith blushed as he clamped his hand over his mouth. “Uh..I mean..it’s me. My body…” He buried his face into his hand. “Arrg, it’s so stupid.”

Allura tilted her head in confusion, until her eyes widened like a light bulb went off in her head. “Wait, you’re half Galra. Has my scent increased for you?”

Keith gulped. “Um...yes,” he stammered. “You...know about it?”

“It’s common for many species,” Allura replied as she rubbed her arm. “But you were half Galra so I just assumed you didn’t have that…” She then froze and groaned. “Oh, of course! That’s why you were asking if I used shampoo! Has my scent been bothering you this whole time?”

“Not bothering me,” Keith mumbled, and admittedly shocked Allura was being so calm about this. “But...it’s hard for me not notice.”

Allura smiled as she reached out and hugged him. “I’m so sorry, Keith. You should have said something.”

Keith hugged back and on instinct found himself breathing in the scent from her hair. “It’s not your fault. It’s just something I have to deal with.”

Allura paused as she let go. “Have you..consider methods of dealing with it?”

“I asked my mom, but there’s really not much besides waiting it out,” Keith turned and blushed, “or just straight out kissing you.”  
Allura made no reply and he didn’t dare look. “But...uh, I’m not saying I need you to kiss me. I rather you did it because you honestly wanted to.”

“...What if I do want to?”

Keith’s heart stopped as he turned his head and saw Allura’s cheeks were bright red. “You..want to?”

“Truthfully, for a while,” Allura said with a shy smile.

Keith choked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We did agree to take things slow and I thought you would mention it when you were ready,” Allura replied as she scratched her cheek.

Keith blinked as he rubbed his neck. “Um...I was waiting for you to bring it up.”

They stared at each other until they both found themselves laughing. Allura covered her mouth as she stepped towards him. “Looks like we’re both at fault for not speaking up.”

“Looks like it,” Keith replied and thought that Lance was going to say ‘I told you so’ when he found out.

“Since we cleared the air then,” Allura said as she blushed and stepped closer. “Would...you like to kiss me?”

Keith took a deep breath as he inhale more of her smell. “Yes, yes I would.”

Gently, Allura wrapped her arms around Keith’s neck as he hugged her waist. His lips quivered slightly as Allura’s face moved closer to his. Then, their lips touched. Keith shut his eyes as kissed. For a moment, Keith’s body tingled and he thought he would happily drown in Allura’s scent, but then it began to ease off.

After a long moment, they slowly broke away. Allura smiled as she cupped his chin. “That was..rather pleasant.”

“Yeah,” Keith replied in agreement. “I...wouldn’t object to doing it again sometime.”

“I believe that can be arranged,” Allura said as she hugged him.

Keith hugged her tightly as her hair tickled his nose. The smell had died down, but it still lingered and frankly Keith found himself not minding in the least.


End file.
